178 Slavic Review ular support for independence. Andrew Fesiak and Jan G, Janmaat argue that textbooks and programs of military education, which are overtly nationalistic and anti-Russian/ Soviet, have backfired, threatening to alienate large and important Russian-speaking sec- tions of the population. Stephen Shulman, using polls showing that most citizens of Ukraine would prefer a closer union with the countries in the Commonwealth of Inde- pendent States, argues that Ukrainian leaders should not emphasize a uniquely Ukrain- ian, anti-Russian foreign policy, but one that sees a common eastern Slavic culture as the basis of Ukrainian unity. The volume sets out to discuss the nature of language and ethnicity-driven policies, but the book points to conclusions that tend to make these questions mute. The volume is most interesting in presenting statistical evidence that questions the long-standing scholarly emphasis on language and ethnic identity as determining factors for social co- hesion. The simple designations “Ukrainian” and “Russian” do not adequately describe the shifting, dynamic identities of contemporary Ukraine. In a concluding chapter, Nancy Popson points out that scholarship focused on the nation-state and national identity may in fact limit our understanding of social tensions in Ukraine. Globalization and mass cul- ture (often from the west delivered in Russian translation) undermine the long-held dream of a united and discreet Ukrainian nation-state. Instead, she suggests, cross-border relations and transnational regional identities, which are not a subject of study in this vol- ume, may be more important to comprehend the drift of politics in Ukraine and predict the viability of the state. This book will be useful for students of political science who are interested in policy questions involving nationality and identity politics in Ukraine. The volume might be of some interest to historians and theoreticians on larger questions of nationality and eth- nicity. Contributors to the volume, however, overlook much of the recent scholarship on nationality theory as well as recent historiography on Soviet nationality policy that not only repressed national groups but also produced them. A more nuanced conception of the Soviet-derived categories “Russian” and “Ukrainian” would have greatly enhanced the volume. Kate Brown University of Maryland, Baltimore County Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity. By Brenda Shaffer. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Studies in International Security, Cam- bridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002. xiii, 251 pp. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Maps. $22.95, paper. The repercussions of the demise of the Soviet Union were not only of prime importance for the territorial entities comprising the fallen empire, they were also of significant im- portance for the countries neighboring the Soviet Union. One of those neighbors, Iran, shared a frontier of 2,250 kilometers with the Soviet Union. The disintegration of the So- viet state meant not merely that the great tsarist /Soviet power, with which Iran had estab- lished a modus vivendi during the previous two hundred years, had vanished; it brought with it the emergence of a number of small independent states, three of which share a common border with Iran: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. Compared to Iran, these three new neighbors hold a minor position in terms of area, size of population, eco- nomic strength, military capability, and political cohesiveness; indeed, these are matters of great security concern for most of them. Nevertheless, they accommodate a majority pop- ulation whose corresponding ethno-linguistic group lives within Iranian territory, An aca- demic inquiry into the repercussions these new states have on Iranian ethnic groups in the border regions would be most welcome to those who follow sociopolitical changes in the region. With Brenda Shaffer's Borders and Brethren one would expect a contribution to our un- derstanding of future developments in Iran as well as in the neighboring countries. WithinBook Reviews 179 the first two chapters, however, the reader becomes disappointed with the unbalanced and sometimes even biased political appraisal that not only dominates the author's methodol- ogy but also shapes her selective amnesia in recalling historical data. The book consists of six chapters and an appendix. Chapter 1 aims to provide an overview of the region from the early eighteenth century until 1920. It sketches imperial Russia's advance toward the south and the annexation of the northern Iranian territories, a move that ultimately established the Araxes River as the border between the two coun- tries. Unfortunately, the main focus remains on the later period while the entire nine- teenth century is rather neglected. Chapter 2 outlines the life of Azerbaijanis in the Soviet Union and Pahlavi Iran. The Islamic Revolution and its repercussions on Iranian ethnic Azerbaijanis along with the emergence of ethnic sentiments in Soviet Azerbaijan during the Gorbachev period are examined in chapter 3. Chapter 4 explores the effects of the dis- integration of the Soviet Union, as well as the effect of the emergence of the Azerbai Republic on the Azerbaijani collective identity. Chapter 5 discusses the formation of the independent Republic of Azerbaijan following the fall of the Soviet Union, and finally, in chapter 6 the author brings her previous arguments to a conclusion and envisages possible future developments. As mentioned earlier, the shortcomings in Shaffer’s study are vivid, in regard to both the methodology and the data she offers us. Methodologically, the author considers the sociopolitical developments in Iranian Azerbaijan, not in conjunction and reciprocal relation with analogous developments in the rest of Iran, but rather in isolation. For example, Shaffer insists on mapping out the purely ethnic dimensions in every social- political movement in revolutionary Islamic Iran over the past twenty-four years. Since she is engaged in a contemporary study of collective ethnic identity and sentiments, one would expect arguments based on fieldwork among rural as well as urban Azerbaijanis in Iran as well as in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, her fieldwork is limited to interviews with some Iranian Azerbaijanis, elite individuals living in the diaspora, often driven by strong political motivations. Obviously studying ethnic sentiments and identity in present- day Iran without conducting all-inclusive fieldwork inside Iran is inequitable. Unfortunately, the author has not always observed academic accuracy in presenting data. For example, in 1918, following the Russian revolution, when the nationalist Musa- vatists were engaged in founding their future Republic of Azerbaijan, a group of Iranian Azerbaijanis in Baku, alarmed about the prevailing political upheavals, launched the pub- lication of a bilingual newspaper Azarbayjan, Joz’-i la-yanfakk-i Iran (Azerbaijan, an insep- arable part of Iran). Shaffer refers to this periodical as an indication of the Iranian Azer- baijanis’ activities in Baku and the magnification of their ethnic identity. But, by referring to the title only as Azarbayjan, she omits the direct reference to Iranian territorial attach- ment in the subtitle. Unfortunately, such selective data presentation is not a rare practice in Shaffer's monograph. When presenting very crucial narrations, she often fails to pre- sent any sources, For example, she asserts that “the [Islamic] revolution’s failure to bring significant democratization attracted some [Iranian] Azerbaijanis, who had previously identified themselves chiefly as Iranians, to ethnic-based messages” (79) and notes that “anti-lranian sentiments . . .run high in the Republic of Azerbaijan” (164). In neither case does she offer documentary evidence supporting her argument. In conclusion, Borders and Brethren is an excellent example of how a political agenda can dehistoricize and decontextualize history. The need remains for an academic inquiry into the ethnic composition of Iran, as well as the refashioning of ethnic group identity in the country, in juxtaposition to the emerging independent states on Iran's northern fron- tiers. The study of the ethnicity and territorial integrity of Iran along with other factors, such as reforms in the political structure, the autonomous rights of the individual Iranians as well as their collective rights to political participation, might hold the key to our under- standing of future developments. It is within this context that any changes in the demar- cation of Iran's political map can be foreseen: anticipating future developments while rec- ognizing that nothing is eternal. Touray ATABAKI International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, the Netherlands